Lady Randolph Churchill, Mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Jennie Jerome was an American socialite who was briefly the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, among others. Through her first marriage, she was the mother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. She is also reported to have had affairs with King Milan I of Serbia, Prince Karl Kinsky, and Herbert von Bismark.

Jennie Jerome – source: Wikipedia

Jeanette “Jennie” Jerome was born in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York on January 9, 1854, one of four daughters of Leonard Jerome and Clarissa “Clara” Hall. Leonard Jerome had become a very wealthy and prominent financier and stock speculator, earning the nickname “King of Wall Street” for the number of fortunes he made and lost through the years. Despite his losses, he always managed to recover and earn even more, providing his family with a very lavish lifestyle. The family’s home in New York City, the Jerome Mansion, was one of the prominent homes in the area and included a theatre that could seat 600 people.

Jennie had three sisters:

As was common at the time, Jennie’s mother took Jennie and her sisters to Europe, settling for some time in Paris before moving on to London in 1870 after the German invasion of France. In London, Jennie first met The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and began a passionate affair that lasted for about two years. Jennie and The Prince of Wales remained close for the rest of his life and continued to see each other on occasion. She would be one of three former mistresses of The Prince of Wales to be invited to attend his coronation, joining Lillie Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt in a box at Westminster Abbey to view the ceremony.

Lord Randolph Churchill. source: Wikipedia

While attending a sailing regatta on the Isle of Wight in August 1873, Jennie was introduced (by The Prince of Wales) to her future first husband. Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill was a younger son of John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Frances Anne Vane. The couple was engaged within just three days, but it took several months for their parents to agree to a financial settlement. The Spencer-Churchills opposed the marriage, but after a $250,000 (several million dollars today) dowry was offered,  they quickly agreed to the marriage. The couple was married at the British Embassy in Paris on April 15, 1874, and Jennie became Jennie Jerome. The family surname was Spencer-Churchill, but they were known simply as Churchill.

Jennie with her two sons, c1889. source: Wikipedia

The couple had two sons:

George Cornwallis-West. source: Wikipedia

Lord Randolph Churchill died in 1895 and within a few years, Jennie met her next husband. She was introduced to George Cornwallis-West while attending a party held by The Countess of Warwick (another of Edward VII’s mistresses). Cornwallis-West, a member of the Scots Guards,  was just two weeks older than Jennie’s elder son, but the two quickly began a relationship. He was the son of William Cornwallis-West, a prominent politician, and Mary “Patsy” FitzPatrick, an Irish aristocrat who had once been the lover of the future King Edward VII in the early 1870s. George had two sisters. His elder sister, Daisy, married Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg, Prince of Pless. His younger sister, Constance (born in 1876) was the first wife of Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster.

Jennie and George were married on July 28, 1900, at St. Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, London. At first, the marriage was happy but within about ten years the marriage began to show signs of strain. Jennie and George separated in 1912 and were divorced on April 1, 1914. Jennie returned to her former name, Lady Randolph Churchill and George Cornwallis-West married Stella Campbell, a noted stage actress.

Montagu Porch in later life. photo: By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64490806

Four years later, on June 1, 1918, Jennie married a third time. Her new husband was Montagu Phippen Porch. Porch, a former member of the British Army, had served with the Colonial Service since 1906 and was three years younger than Jennie’s son Winston. Porch continued to serve in the British Army until the end of World War I, devoting his time to several successful ventures in Africa. Following Jennie’s death, Porch returned to Africa for some time and remarried in 1926 to Donna Guilia Patrizi, the daughter of the Marchese Patrizi della Rocco. After being widowed again in 1938, he returned to England until he died in 1964.

Lady Randolph Churchill, c1899. source: Wikipedia

After breaking her ankle in May 1921, Jennie suffered from gangrene and had to have her lower leg amputated in June 1921. Two weeks later, on June 29, 1921, she died at her home in London as a result of a hemorrhage in her thigh. Jennie is buried in the Spencer-Churchill family plot at St. Martin’s Church, Bladon, alongside her first husband, her two sons, and their families.

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